Dead Heat for Third in Women 100 Final

Jun 23, 2012

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*Updated*

More than 24 hours after Allyson Felix and Jeneba Tarmoh ran a dead heat for third in the women's 100 meter final, USATF has established a proceedure for breaking that tie. The short version: if neither Felix nor Tarmoh conceeds, the pair can resolve the tie with a coin flip or a runoff. If one choose a runoff and the other a coin flip, USATF will force a runoff. If neither expresses a preference, USATF will force a coin flip.Of note, however, is the absence of a timeline. Do Felix and Tarmoh need to decide today? Tomorrow? By the end of the trials?

Photo Finish, Allyson Felix (2) and Jeneba Tarmoh (1).

Read USATF's full press release below:

USA Track & Field and the United States Olympic Committee announce the following procedures, to be applied to the women’s 100 meters and any other running event for which there may be a dead heat for third place at the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Track & Field.

These procedures were developed through consultation between USATF officials and representatives of the Olympic track & field athlete community, and were presented to and approved by the USOC. USATF President and Chairman Stephanie Hightower, CEO Max Siegel, USOC CEO Scott Blackmun and Sport Performance officials from both organizations contributed to the formation and approval of these procedures.

The USOC approves all selection procedures for the Olympic Team in each sport and had previously approved track & field selection procedures entering the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials. Those procedures did not take into account a third-place dead heat.The affected athletes and/or their representatives have been informed of these procedures. USATF will provide an update when the final means of determining which athlete will fill the third spot on the Olympic Team in the women’s 100 meters has been established.

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In case of a tie, the following procedure shall be used for breaking a tie for the final qualifying slot in a running-event final in which a U.S. National Team or Olympic Team is being selected:

If either athlete declines his or her position on the National Team/Olympic Team, that athlete will be named the alternate and the other athlete will assume the final available position.

If neither athlete declines their position, they will be given the option to determine the tie-breaker via coin toss or by run-off.

If both athletes choose the same option, that option will be utilized as the tie-breaker.

If the athletes disagree on the tie-breaker, the tie will be broken by a run-off.

If both athletes refuse to declare a preference regarding the method between a run off and coin toss in regards to how the tie is broken, the tie will be broken by coin toss.

Run-Off Protocol

USATF’s Chief of Sport Performance, in consultation with the athletes and their coaches, will determine the time of the run-off depending on entry deadlines, travel, practice and competition schedules, and the best interests of the National Team/Olympic Team.

If the run-off also results in a dead heat, the tie will be broken by a coin toss.

Coin Toss Protocol

USATF shall provide a United States Quarter Dollar coin with the image of George Washington appearing on the obverse hub of the coin and an Eagle appearing on the reverse hub of the coin. Each athlete shall inspect the coin to ensure the obverse and reverse hubs of the coin reflect the images of George Washington and the Eagle, respectively.

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The athlete with the highest world ranking according to the IAAF rankings as of 8 am PST on the date of the coin toss shall declare his or her choice of "heads" for the obverse hub or "tails" for the reverse hub. If the athlete with the highest world ranking chooses not to declare his or her choice, that athlete shall be assigned the choice of heads for the obverse hub of the coin. The other athlete shall be designated, by default, the choice either: 1. Not chosen by the highest-ranking athlete or 2. Tails should the highest-ranking athlete choose not to declare his or her choice.

The choices shall be confirmed by a representative chosen by USATF. Once the choices have been made and confirmed by the USATF representative, each athlete shall face each other and the USATF representative shall bend his or her index finger at a 90 degree angle to his or her thumb, allowing the coin to rest on his or her thumb. In one single action, the USATF representative shall toss the coin into the air, allowing the coin to fall to the ground.

Once the coin has fallen to the ground, the USATF representative shall, without touching or lifting the coin, view the coin and determine whether the coin has landed on the obverse or reverse hub. In the event that the coin does not fall completely on either the obverse or reverse hub, the USATF representative shall repeat the toss process as described above.

The athlete who chose the hub that is displayed shall be declared the winner by the USATF representative.

In the event either or both athlete refuses to participate in the coin toss, the USATF representative shall assign the athlete with the highest world ranking "heads" and the other athlete "tails" and shall toss the coin in the presence of at least two witnesses and declare the winner pursuant to the procedure set forth above.

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8:25 PM USATF has posted a statement explaining how they settled on a tie. Officials originally gave Tarmoh the nod for third but reversed the placing after looking at a back-up camera. The primary camera's view was blocked by other runners.

We'll also note that Felix and Tarmoh train together under coach Bobby Kersee. Felix is a two-time Olympian and has an excellent shot at qualifying for London in the 200. Might she cede her spot to her friend and training partner?

Here's USATF's full explanation of the situation:

"Saturday night’s final of the women’s 100 meters at the 2012 Olympic Trials involved a photo-finish image to determine third place. Timers use two camera positions for photo finishes: one on the outside of the track and one on the inside.

The outside camera is traditionally the one used in photo-finish images. In the women’s 100, the outside camera was inconclusive for determining third place due to athletes’ arms blocking a clear view of their torsos. Torso position is used to determine finishes and times. Looking at the inside camera images, timers initially looked at the twisting upper bodies of Jeneba Tarmoh and Allyson Felix and interpolated the obscured body positions from the photo finish image. They posted Tarmoh as finishing third in unofficial results on the Hayward Field scoreboard.

Timers then immediately called referees to notify them of a potential dead heat. The photo-finish image, shot at 3,000-frames-per-second, was then analyzed by timers and referees and unanimously ruled to be a dead heat based on visual evidence. Tarmoh and Felix are both officially timed in 11.068 seconds."

8:00 PM In the picture of the photo finish between Allyson Felix and Jeneba Tarmoh, the black line represents the moment the womens' torsos crossed the finish line. USATF is now considering how to break the tie. Spokeswoman Jill Geer told reporters that all options are being considered. We're hoping for a runoff—meaning Felix and Tarmoh return to the track for another race. For all we can tell, that might actually happen.

7:48 PM We're monitoring developments in one of the more intriguing matters in recent track history: After the women's 100-meter final was run, third place was given to Jeneba Tarmoh over Allyson Felix. The difference between them was said to be .001 second. Within an hour of the final, however, that result was changed. Jeneba and Felix were said to finish in a dead heat.Ninety minutes after the final, USATF officials starting to meet to decide what to do. USATF spokesperson Jill Geer said, "We don't have a procedure for this."

We're on top of this story and will update this post as it develops in Eugene.

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